What is it? An eye-popping documentary series, fronted by a charismatic YouTuber, which delves into modern queer life in the UK.

Why you’ll love it: The expansion of LGB to LGBT to LGBTQ to LGBTQ+ suggests a community ever-expanding in order to include all. But presenter Riyadh Khalaf’s revealing series demonstrates again and again that many encounter rejection if they don’t subscribe to some very narrow stereotypes. “No Femmes. No Blacks. No Fats. No Asians” restates profile after profile on gay dating apps, with some punters qualifying that they are not really being racist/bigoted because “that’s just my preference”.

Over six episodes, Khalaf, an articulate, personable inquisitor with a real gift for putting his subjects at ease, goes to interview those who feel pushed to the margins of this apparently accepting community. Khalaf’s own Iraqi/Irish heritage, he says, has put him in that “other” category at times and his empathy gives him a warmth that works wonders in his interviews.

In the first instalment, Khalaf examines the disconnect between established religion and those believers who don’t and can’t conform to gender or sexual stereotypes.

Josh walks down his old street with Khalaf and they laugh about getting caught looking at gay porn as teenagers. But Josh’s Jehovah’s Witness parents asked him not to contact them when their church excommunicated him for coming out. The letter they wrote, telling him not to get in touch until he had rejected this new lifestyle, is heartbreaking. Khalaf reads it out because Josh can’t bring himself to.

Elijah is “pansexual” and has a deep Christian faith. He identifies as trans-masculine and says the knowledge of a loving God is the only thing that saved him as he gradually learned to hate the part of him that wanted so much to transition. With the help and inclusion of his church, he is going to have a naming ceremony to affirm the person he is now proud to be. It’s a happy story among many miserable ones.

The rest of the series explores everything from body image to stereotype reinforcement in porn, racism, bulimia and homelessness. It feels like something that TV hasn’t tackled before, in an LGBTQ context, and an important step. It’s the kind of television, never dry or worthy, that should be shown in schools to demystify a whole area of life that just isn’t talked about.

The concept of “femme shaming” is a new one to me. Jamal, a young gay man with long purple hair, who is a dab-hand with the contouring brush, says he doesn’t fit into his community because he looks too much like a woman. “I don’t understand why we have so many labels in the gay community,” he says. The interviewees often echo feminist women when they say they should all be supporting each other but instead disapproval ricochets off every wall.

The third episode focuses on LGBTQ young people who live on the streets: estimates suggest that one-in-four young homeless people are LGBTQ, which probably contributed to their homeless status.

The most shocking story of 21st-century persecution for being gay is John’s. He stands on his old street in Blackburn, telling Khalaf how his neighbours drove him from the area with bricks through his window and constant abuse. The “fucking faggot” jibes sound like something from the 1970s and then, with perfect timing, a former neighbour drives past, sees John and starts shouting at him. John paints his nails and sometimes wears a wig. That’s all it takes. We are light years away from acceptance for all.Where:BBC3 on iPlayer

Length: Six 30-minute episodes, four of which are already available.

Standout episode: The third one, about the people without a safe place to live purely because of their sexuality, is particularly sobering.